Xintai County is the most important county town in the western part of Langya County. It is the northern gate of Qi County through Lu County and enters Langya County. Its strategic position is no less than that of Dong'an County. It seizes Dong'an County, Xintai County and Yishui County, and basically controls the northern part of Langya County.∷∷,

Currently, Xintai County and Yishui County are in the hands of Zhang Xuan, but Xintai County is still in the hands of Wang Bo. Wang Bo has deployed two thousand garrisons in Xintai County. Two thousand garrisons cannot stop the Sui army's large-scale southward advance, but it can hold back the Sui army's southward advance and give Zhuanyu County the main force to deploy defense time.

Another news Zhang Xuan received was that Wang Bo's main army had not yet arrived in Xintai County, which means that he rushed to Xintai County before he grabbed Wang Bo.

At this time, on the official road about forty miles south of Xintai County, an army of 10,000 people was heading north quickly. This army was the main force who led the attack on Qi County. Just as Fang Xuanling's judgment, Pei Renji led his army to the west to Wagang, and Zhang Xuan led his army south to attack Langya County. Qi County and Beihai County were empty, which made Wang Bo see a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

On the one hand, he deployed suspicious troops and confused Zhang Xuan's wife. On the other hand, he encouraged Sun Xuanya to attack Mengyin Fortress and pretended to send 5,000 troops to join forces with Sun Xuanya. In order to restrain Zhang Xuan's main force in Dong'an County, he himself led 10,000 elite troops to head north quickly and prepare to break from Lu County into Qi County.

It should be said that Wang Bo's strategy is very clever and deceptive, and even Zhang Xuan was confused by him. Unfortunately, he met Fang Xuanling, who was more intelligent, and saw through his plan to hide the world.

Despite this, Wang Bo was still very careful. On the one hand, he ordered the Xintai County defenders to strengthen patrols, and on the other hand, he sent nearly a hundred spies to investigate along the way, for fear of being ambushed by the Sui army.

At noon, Wang Bo's army arrived in Xintai County, where they would rest for an hour and then continue north.

The garrison of Xintai County was a small general named Luo Zhong, and he was also the first old subordinate to follow Wang Bo to rebel in Changbai Mountain.

"Please rest assured that Beizhi has sent dozens of spies to inspect the surrounding area. If there is any abnormal movement, they will report Beizhi in time. So far, Beizhi has not found any suspicious points."

Wang Bo nodded. His spy did not find any abnormality. Think about it carefully. He sent troops so secretly, and it was not targeting Beihai County. Zhang Xuan's attention should be in Mengyin Fort.

Sun Xuanya is his number one enemy. It’s not his turn. Thinking of this, his doubts gradually faded, he stood up and whispered: “Stay for another half an hour and the army set off!”

On a hill covered with dense forests several miles away from Xintai County, two Sui army scouts were staring at the county town in the distance, and saw ten thousand thieves entering the county town in a mighty manner.

The two scouts looked at each other, quickly left the hill and ran towards the foot of the mountain. They found the war horse hidden in the bushes. The horse turned over and ran eastward.

After running for more than ten miles in one breath, the scout came to the Black Songlin where the Sui army was resting. The six thousand Sui army had been resting here for nearly half a day. Most of the Sui army had already slept for a night, and they were all full of energy and washed away the fatigue of the march for a night.

There were more than a dozen bandits tied to the corner of the pine forest. They were sentries sent by Xintai County to inspect the western front and were captured one by one by the ambushed Sui army.

Many things are a bit wrong, as if God is destined to do so. If Wang Bo comes one day later, the Xintai County guard will find that many of the patrols he sent have not returned overnight, and will realize that an abnormal situation has occurred. Perhaps Wang Bo will not continue to go north again.

But Wang Bo and Zhang Xuan were only half a day away to arrive in Xintai County, and he refused to spend the night in Xintai County. This led to them not being able to discover the abnormalities outside the city.

The scout reported their discovery to the lord Zhang Xuan. Zhang Xuan had already obtained the news that Wang Bo's army had advanced northward, and now he needed to get the details of the thief army.

"You reported to the general that Wang Bo's army was basically infantry, and he didn't see the cavalry. Judging from their mental state, they all seemed a little tired, and the team was not very neat."

"How many soldiers are there in each row? How long is the team?" Zhang Xuan refused to let go of every detail.

"On average, about two or three people, the team is very long, about three miles."

"How is the equipment?" Pei Xingyan asked beside him.

This is the most important question. The quality of the other party's equipment is related to the degree of their casualties. Zhang Xuan wanted to ask again in the end, but Pei Xingyan asked in a hurry.

"You reported to General Pei, the equipment is exactly the same as the Sui army, and even the armor is the same, but the helmet and the front chest are white. The sword, spear, and round shield are all the same as the Sui army. At the beginning, Bei Yi thought it was a Sui army. If you hadn't seen the flag, you wouldn't believe it was an army of bandits."

"How much logistics supplies are there?" Zhang Xuan asked the last question.

"There is no baggage, and each soldier carries a bag of dry food weighing five or six kilograms, a kettle, and a roll of blankets, plus a spear, bow, arrow, sword, and shield. Each soldier bears at least twenty kilograms, and the low position is probably so heavy."

Zhang Xuan nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, go and have a rest!"

The scout bowed and retreated. At this time, Zhang Xuan spread a map on a big rock to look carefully, but the map could no longer show the complex terrain nearby.

After watching for a while, Zhang Xuan had to put away the map and ordered: "Go and bring that monk!"

Soon, a middle-aged monk was brought up. His Dharma name was Huilun. He was a monk from Baolin Temple in Xintai County. He was captured by the Sui army while chopping wood outside the city.

"I will see the general!" The monk clasped his hands and bowed.

"I would like to ask Master, in addition to the official roads to the north, there are also roads to the north near Xintai County?"

"Report to the general, there are still several small paths near the official road, but there is no official road and you can't walk with a big cart."

"Please give us the master a guide. When the matter is over, I will let the master go."

"Amitabha, I hope the general will be compassionate and will hurt people's lives less..."

Zhang Xuan waved his hand impatiently and asked the soldiers to take the monk down. He looked at the sky. It was already noon. Zhang Xuan immediately ordered: "Send the whole army to prepare to set off!"

...........

Wang Bojun had left Xintai County and headed north and continued to head towards Qi County. They wanted to enter Lu County first, and then directly enter Qi County.

As we head north, we can be said to be without roosters crowing thousands of miles away. Although the time has reached the vibrant early summer, there are no one wherever Wang Bo’s army passes. There are dilapidated villages and empty counties everywhere, just like ghost areas. After the bandits, the land of Langya County was already in decline and ruin.

Wang Bo's heart was a little heavy. He still remembered that when he first arrived in Langya County, there was still some people and the village was not so dilapidated. Why did Langya County become so desolate in just a few years?

Only then did he realize that Zhang Xuan asked Wang Shichong for more than a thousand old men, the key was the hearts of the people. The reason why Wang Bo failed in Qi County was because he did not get the support of the hearts of the people.

Langya County was not controlled by Sun Xuanya and his Wang Bo, and basically all fled to Qi County and Beihai County, so the area was ruined.

Wang Bo couldn't help but sigh secretly. If he occupied Qi County, what would happen to Qi County?

Wang Bo's army marched north all the way and marches for a day and a night. The next night, the army arrived at the south bank of Wenshui, which was the junction of Qi County and Lu County, and was a hilly and mountainous area that stretched for dozens of miles. Wubei Town opposite the river was the entrance to Qi County.

This area has a low mountain and dense forest. Since the population is mainly concentrated in the southern part of Qi County, the area has very few populations and the environment has not been damaged. It has a vast forest of hundreds of miles.

Seeing that the soldiers were exhausted, and he brought a lot of food and supplies from Xintai County. He could not cross the river before the floating bridge was built, Wang Bo ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot.

......

Zhang Xuan led 6,000 soldiers to march on the edge of the vast forest, running parallel to the official road. The official road was five miles away, clearly visible under the moonlight. Zhang Xuan was a hundred times more confident. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to success.

At this time, a scout came on a horse and said a few words to Zhang Xuan in a low voice. Zhang Xuan nodded and waved his hand to signal the soldiers to continue moving forward. Pei Xingyan next to him looked shocked. Why didn't the general attack while the enemy was marching, but instead attacked while the enemy was resting?

And he didn't understand why the general dragged it to Lu County before starting?

......

At the first update of the night, a large cart was parked on the official road about two miles from Wenshui, about 500, mainly mule carts, full of food and weapons.

The coachman and soldiers seized the time to hide in the cart to sleep. It would probably take two hours for them to continue heading north. At first, everyone was very alert, but as they entered Lu County, their vigilance became tired, and they didn't know where to hide in the necessary posts to sleep.

The cart stopped in a row on the official road, the horses also ate the grass and drank water, stood in front of the carriage and went to sleep, and the surroundings were quiet, filled with the sound of insects.

At this moment, a rocket shot towards the ground, hitting the haystack on a large cart. The flames quickly ignited. With the wind, the fire became more and more prosperous. After a moment, it soared into the sky. The groom hiding in the haystack and fell from the cart screamed. The fire had already burned his hair.

The rockets shot in the sky, and in an instant, more than 500 large cars were lit. The official road was in chaos. The soldiers of the guards turned over the horses and pulled the reins desperately in an attempt to stabilize the already frightened war horses.

"kill!"

Pei Xingyan roared and led five hundred cavalry out of the forest like tigers, rushed straight into the convoy, fighting fiercely with the escort army. The jingle of weapons colliding, and the thief soldiers were slashed and screamed and fell off the chariot.
Chapter completed!